Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Rae Huber.
Jessica, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up playing and singing music in church and focused on that for a few years. As I grew older I realized I had an interest in going deeper and exploring music from a compositional level as well as an interest in narrative and visual storytelling. I went back to school at Berklee College of Music and got a degree in film and video game scoring.
I spent a summer of my time as a student out in Los Angeles interning for a film composer. I moved to Los Angeles a year later and it turned out they were hiring for a full-time position. I was hired and worked there for five years, first as an assistant, then the scoring manager and one of the additional composers. During this time I learned an immense amount about the business of film scoring on both a creative and logistics level.
I moved on from working full time for another composer to focusing on my own growing career as a composer. I have had the privilege of collaborating with some fantastic filmmakers, producers, and creators and anticipate many more amazing projects in my future.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the biggest challenges of pursuing a career in film composing and living in Los Angeles is definitely the financial difficulties that can arise from such a career. I have definitely experienced seasons of feast and famine. The challenge has been learning to plan for both in order to keep my life and business sustainable.
Another big challenge is learning to have a balanced life. Making time for my family and things that are life-giving to me is a priority that I have had to learn over time. I have a tendency to throw myself into my work and neglect other, even more important, parts of my life. When I can balance these things my career and creativity flourishes more.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I have written music for hundreds of episodes of television, several films, and written library music that is placed in television, trailers, ads, and movies all around the world.
I have the ability to handle and manage several simultaneous and different projects. Because of my unique experience managing teams and the challenges that scoring projects bring, I have often been approached to work as a consultant for other composers looking for help managing the logistics of their own teams and projects.
I split my time between Los Angeles and Nashville and have a presence, and network, in both places. This gives me a unique perspective, and ability to navigate scoring work that happens in both cities.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
As I look back at my career so far, I fondly remember the turning point when I left the full-time employ of another composer and broke off to work full-time on my own media composing career. This was shortly after I had my first child which readjusted my perspective on my life, career, and goals. Since that point, I have become more focused on intentionally pursuing my career goals and less focused on staying in the grind and busyness that can be all-consuming, but not always useful to propel my career forward. “The grind” is deceptive and used to make me feel like I was accomplishing things in my career when, in reality, it was often times distracting me from intentionally pursing my own personal goals.
Working and collaborating with the right people has become the more important focus in my career. Whenever I work with “my people” on a project, I am infinitely more creative and satisfied with the work I do. It’s all about people. The risks of working as a freelance composer have been great, but the collaboration, joy, and rewards have been greater.
Contact Info:
- Website: jessicaraehuber.com
- Instagram: @jessicaraehuber
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessicaraehubermusic/
- Twitter: @jessicaraehuber
Image Credit:
Nick Lyon, Elisa Rice, Dillon Padgette
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